ENERGSYNTISSUE · Energy-generating synthetic tissues

Energy-generating synthetic tissues

Bridging the gap between biology and electronics has never been so crucial. Given the rapid progress in miniaturized electronics and the recent greater understanding in brain science, the seamless integration of electronics with living systems is poised to contribute to basic biology as well as to medical diagnostics and therapeutics. Despite the name 'bioelectronics', most devices in this area are built of rigid, dry electronic components and lack biological features. Therefore, the differences between biological tissues and man-made electronics lead to formidable obstacles in the deployment of bioelectronic devices. Important distinctions between biological tissues and man-made electronics are mechanical stiffness and the nature of the electricity generated by the two divergent systems. Native tissues consist of cells within an extracellular matrix (ECM). The nature of the cells and the features of the ECM differ between organs, producing the diversity of stiffness, topography and complexity. In addition, man-made electronics rely on electrons as carriers of information, while bioelectronic activities in the human body use ions as carriers. Therefore, bioelectronics must adopt the principles of biology so that devices can work synergistically with living tissues and organs. Synthetic tissues can be made from droplet networks comprising aqueous compartments separated by lipid bilayers. Among all synthetic materials, droplet networks offer the closest approximation to natural tissues, notably with comparable mechanical properties. Each droplet represents a simplified cell. Information can be exchanged between these compartments internally, and with the external environment. For example, by encapsulating enzymes within the compartments, synthetic cells can receive and process biological cues. In this project, we aim to combine the advances in synthetic cells based on droplet networks, and create tissue-like energy-generating electronics, in which electrical circuits and electronic functions are established within biological components. We seek to: I. construct stable droplet networks that allow long-term energy production II. integrate enzymatic reactions in different compartments producing electrical output functions III. demonstrate the capability of tissue-like energy-generating electronics for biological applications

Data: CORDIS, © European Union